Washington Huskies sneak into final AP rankings at No. 25

Washington running back Bishop Sankey holds up his Offensive Player of the Game trophy after the Huskies beat BYU 31-16 in the Fight Hunger Bowl on Dec. 27 at AT&T Park in San Francisco. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

Having beaten BYU in the Fight Hunger Bowl last month, the Washington Huskies on Tuesday found themselves ranked No. 25 in the final Associated Press poll of the 2013 college football season.

It’s an uplifting finish to a turbulent end of the season. The Dawgs, who went 9-4 with their bowl victory, now have an entirely different coaching staff than the one they started the season with.

Former head coach Steve Sarkisian accepted the top job at USC and left before Washington’s bowl appearance, and is taking a lot of assistants with him. But Huskies fans are more than pleased with Sarkisian’s replacement, Chris Petersen, who comes to Montlake after eight highly successful years at Boise State.

In addition to the 31-16 Fight Hunger Bowl victory, the No. 25 AP ranking gives the Huskies something to hang their helmets on as they head into a new era.

After winning Monday night’s BCS Championship Game, Florida State finished with the top AP ranking, followed by their opponent, Auburn, at No. 2. Rounding out the top 10 were Michigan State, South Carolina, Missouri, Oklahoma, Alabama, Clemson, Oregon and UCF. You can read more about the rankings here.